There is an ever present need to improve the efficiency of motor engines. This is particularly true as hydrocarbons become a scarcer commodity. The potentially enormous monetary savings as well as abated pollution resulting from more efficient motors justify the search for greater efficiency. Most automobiles today utilize an internal combustion engine design that is highly inefficient.
The classical internal combustion engine was developed at the start of the century and continues to power an overwhelming number of existing automobiles. The classical internal engine is based on 4 strokes, as follows:
1st stroke: ignition followed by explosion and lowering of piston. Both valves are closed.
2nd stroke: the piston returns by its own inertia and the gases are evacuated when the escape valve is opened. The intake valve is closed.
3rd stroke: lowering of piston and aspiration of mixture of fresh air and fuel. The intake valve is open and the escape valve is closed.
4rd stroke: intake valve and escape valve are both closed, the piston returns and compresses the mixture of fresh air and fuel.
The efficiency of the classic internal combustion engine typically does not exceed 30%. There are various well-known problems with this type of engine. One primary problem is that during the power stroke the connecting rod is unable to create useful torque at the height of the explosion. The valve arrangement during the end of gas evacuation and the beginning of gas intake poses problems in flame return. The long course traversed between the Dead Center High point and the Dead Center Low point does not permit effective use of power stroke with a fast burning fuel. The engine components close to Dead Center High experience a very hot environment, and this invariably necessitates a separate liquid cooling system.
In contrast, our engine is inherently more efficient. It uses variable compression and is capable of using a wide variety of fuels. The present engine can utilize low carbon hydrocarbons, diesel, hydrogen, or any combination of these fuels. Hydrogen is preferentially added because it burns 7 to 9 times faster than high carbon fuels and can be used to accelerate their detonation. Due to the relative instantaneity of the explosive event during ignition, there is less of the wasted translational energy that is found in traditional internal combustion engines. This allows for better cooling of internal components.
Other inventions have proposed hydrogen-powered motors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,183 by Thordarson proposes the use of a system primarily directed for propelling water craft using hydrogen as fuel. The proposed system is comprised of a combustion chamber in which a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen produce an ignition that is able to push out a working fluid within the combustion chamber. This pressurization of the working fluid serves to propel the motor. The present invention does not utilize a fluid within the combustion chamber.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,114 by Tang et al of Ford Global Technologies, a hydrogen-fueled engine is coupled to a lean NOx trap and an EGR system so that the engine is operated with a richer-than-stoichiometric air/fuel ratio, and with the mass of EGR approximating 40-80% of the mass of air and fuel. The present invention describes an engine that does not rely on a coupled lean NOx trap/EGR system with the stated specific EGR mass flow.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,027 by Manzato et al, the hydrogen motor described is comprised of chambers containing reactants used for the production of hydrogen, a chamber for mixing hydrogen with air, a means for heating and compressing the contents of the gas mixing chamber, and a means for igniting the compressed gas contents to produce a work output. This work differs fundamentally from the present invention because this patent contains a compression of a mixture, while our invention contains separate gases that are compressed prior to mixing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,840 by Meany describes a hybrid electric vehicle which is comprised of an AC/DC converter, a battery, a fuel converter for converting hydrocarbon-containing fuels into hydrogen, and a drive system for using either a dc electric motor or a combustion engine. The engine of the present invention does not depend on converting a hydrocarbon-containing fuel into hydrogen.
As far as we know, there is no prior art in this area. The present patent is a significant deviation of French Patent 1,464,719, dated 1966, which describes a 5-phase engine that uses valves typically used in classical combustion engines.
The present invention does not rely on valves, but rather uses a cooling jacket which separates two chambers. The gases within these two chambers are eventually combined to yield a fast and efficient explosion. The details of the present invention will become evident from the description that follows.